Dear CCI Friends,

The devil is in the details when it comes to international law it seems. A treasured CCI couple wrote convinced that Putin had broken international law by rejoining Crimea and Russia, among other issues. I took it to Ambassador Jack Matlock, who gave the rationale that it would be considered as permissible today, along with the process by which that decision would be made.

Thankfully, Jack is still alive and has the memory of a 25 year old! I thought you might be interested in how international laws are interpreted over the span of time.

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

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Dear CCI Readers,

Nicolai Petro, Professor of Peace and Nonviolence at the University of Rhode Island and a Fulbright Scholar in Ukraine from 2013–14, send me the article and following note:

“The article below, by award winning journalist Cain Burdeau, is among the best available at explaining the long, historic challenges within today’s Ukraine. The current situation cannot be understood without deeper knowledge of the different communities that co-exist there.”

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

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Dear CCI Friends,

I’ve just completed reading Ambassador Jack Matlock’s latest release of information which is known only by top officials who never address these issues outside their hallowed halls.

Ambassador Matlock also takes on the topic of Vladimir Putin that makes sense given the world in which we find ourselves today.

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

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Dear CCI Friends,

In my opinion, the most succinct article written about the current Ukraine crisis and its resolution is below. Read it to understand how the United States (and Russia) must deal with the situation to avoid grave calamities including a nuclear war.

Please share your comments with us. We can use them to add more weight to Ambassador Hunter’s succinct diagnosis/prognosis offered below.

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

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Top Weapons Companies Boast Ukraine-Russia
Tensions Are a Boon for Business

In calls with investors, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin boasted that the worsening conflict is helping profits.

In These Times
January 27, 2022
By Sarah Lazare

As the United States weighs more involvement in the growing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, some of the largest weapons companies in the world — Raytheon and Lockheed Martin — are openly telling their investors that tensions between the countries are good for business. And General Dynamics, meanwhile, is boasting about the past returns the company has seen as a result of such disputes.

The statements come as the U.S. government escalates arms shipments to Ukraine, among them the Javelin missiles that are a joint venture between Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. House Democrats, meanwhile, are trying to quickly push through a bill that would significantly increase U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, and impose new sanctions on Russia.

Anti-war campaigners warn that U.S. escalation, amid renewed tensions between Ukraine and Russia, could bring dire consequences, and spill into a much larger and more protracted war. ​“As we are shipping advanced weaponry to the Ukrainian military, the Biden administration has signaled that U.S. military advisors will continue to stay in the country,” Cavan Kharrazian, progressive foreign policy campaigner for the advocacy organization Demand Progress, tells In These Times. ​“Who will most likely set up and teach the Ukrainian army how to use these weapons systems? The U.S. military.”

Among those openly discussing the boon to profits is Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes. During a January 25 appearance on CNBC’s ​“Squawk on the Street,” he was asked, ​“Do we have anything that would make it so if you inserted 8,000 American soldiers into Ukraine, they can stop 103,000 Russian soldiers?”

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